This book investigates the role of cultural heritage as a constitutive dimension of different
civilizing missions from the colonial era to the present. It includes case studies of the
Habsburg Empire and German colonialism in Africa Asian case studies of (post)colonial India
and the Dutch East Indies Indonesia China and French Indochina and a special discussion on
20th-century Cambodia and the temples of Angkor. The themes examined range from architectural
and intellectual history to historic preservation and restoration. Taken together they offer
an overview of historical processes spanning two centuries of institutional practices wherein
the concept of cultural heritage was appropriated both by political regimes and for UNESCO
World Heritage agendas.
